The Sacred Dance Guild holds its biennial Festival in Holland, Michigan this week. In honor of this event, I am posting a poem I had published back in 1984 in alive now!, a small devotional magazine. The poem was later danced at the ordination of a friend.
The Proper Turning
The proper turning
from the world to God
is a conspicuous somersault
half joyful leap, half fall.
Power tumbles, selfish
interests spill, desires
turn upside down,
a very public mess.
Laughter dances round.
Is it delight or scorn?
No matter to the acrobat
who’s newly joined the troupe―
the company of artists
who proclaim the names of God.
At the time of writing, I had no idea how many names of God there are: the number is beyond counting. Dance, movement, gesture, can convey some of them in ways no words can.
Although the somersault in this poem could be metaphorical, actual movement in worship is a wonderful thing. The Sacred Dance Guild gave me an excuse to dance again after no lessons since I was a teenager. Most of the people I’ve met who dance in church are free spirits, liberated, as if keeping their bodies limber did the same for their minds.
Dance also proved to be a good balance for my writing. Most writers have some physical work or hobby or habit to balance all the sitting and head work. I recommend dance if you’d like to try something new; sacred dance is for all ages, genders and levels of ability.
freethoughtandmetaphor 
Jul 25, 2012 @ 14:08:54
Nice poem! I especially like the “conspicuous somersault” and “very public mess.”
Jul 11, 2017 @ 10:34:25
Hi Ellen. I’ve been reminded of — and shared– Proper Turning a number of times (today’s prod was a FB post from Parker Palmer). I don’t remember if you wrote it for my ordination (3/15/1980) or already had it on hand. I did see it later in Alive! Now! Whichever, it’s perfect for us (former in my case) dancers. But if you recall, my brother was a circus performer for two decades–and became a devout Bah’aii.
I regret that with all my peregrinations, I let friendships slip. But I love being able to reconnect thanks to miracle of the internet!